Merry Christmas and The Happiest New Year to come!!!! Friends and family, we are so very blessed and I will attempt to share some of the greatest of God's blessings in our life from the past month. Before I get to the obvious and fabulous Christmas and New Year’s memories, I would like to share a true miracle we experienced at the start of the month.
Shortly after we returned from a wonderful trip to Boston, Eva began complaining that her right eye was blurry. She already had her monthly eye therapy appointment with the doctor scheduled 7 days later, so we thought it best to see how she continued and wait until the appointment. Throughout the 7 days leading up to the appointment, she did not waiver in her discomfort or that the blurriness was worsening. During her appointment, the doctor did a more extensive exam than usual due the increased blurriness, her vision had declined from 20/40 or so, to 20 /400 in one eye... leading her doctor to believe unequivocally that she was developing blindness and needed and MRI/ Cat scan immediately. This drastic decline in one month, was undoubtedly neurologically related. We were devastated and asked numerous questions, (mainly related to the new bifocals she had only been wearing one month). All of our questions were addressed with no regard and subconsciously reminded us that he is the doctor, and clearly we are not the experts. This was unacceptable to all four of the people parenting her, especially me and Colman as the parents who see her do homework during the week etc, during the school week. This just did not add up... We sought a second opinion and only by God's hands were we able to get an appointment the very next morning, with a very credible doctor here in Fort Worth. She had a full schedule, but squeezed us in... Again God! No doubt! This was the toughest four hours in a doctor’s office!! She examined Eva's eyes thoroughly and four hours later after much discussion and various exercises/ exams she instructed us to go back to "regular glass" and take her out of bifocals and what we are seeing in the right eye is "normal" with such a change in prescription!!! She also assured us no need for an MRI was needed!! She answered all of our questions in ways that made more since with what we are seeing at home on a regular basis, and AMEN no more eye exercises!!! She said that within one week, the eye should return to its normal vision and if not to call her. Within 4 days, Eva exclaimed my eye isn't blurry anymore!!! We are so thankful for the mind, and intuition that God has given us to know when something is not right... We have been seeing Eva's original eye doctor for over 10 years, he is a great doctor, not sure what happened here other than a true miracle. This is what we are claiming it/explaining it to be....
We do not doubt he saw what he explained, but we also know that within 24 hours a much different diagnosis was made. Since the second week in December, our little Eva has continued to see as "normal". We are sooooo blessed and thankful.... Thank you to my mom for listening, being in the wings praying, and no doubt singing... we love you Margie! And the other angels she leaned on for support...We return to the new eye doctor in June... for a regular check- up. :)
Okay, now for some fun stuff!!! December marked our family- annual ladies outing to Bass Hall for the ballet performance of the Nutcracker. This year, cousin Bella (3years old) and her mom Jennifer joined us! We had a wonderful time, enjoyed lunch at Del Frisco Grill with a beautiful view of the Christmas tree and scene in downtown Fort Worth in our background. Then Bass Hall! Where 16 of us, took up an entire row this year.. We enjoyed a yummy Starbucks treat afterwards with freshly baked cookies from KT!!!
December 28th - Eva returned home, and we surprised her with one more gift! A scavenger hunt... ending with a video from Colman's sister Rebecca and boyfriend Tommy telling her to pack her bags and COME TO NEW YORK CITY!!!!! Which we did, the very next morning... Thank you uncle Fran for taking us to the airport.
We had an amazing trip, a definite all time favorite trip! We arrived to Rebecca, "Becca" picking us up full of joy and excitement!! Tommy joined us soon after a day of work, with Root Beer in tow for little E. These two are pretty great! We finally got to meet the final sister, Sara!!! Sara also lives in New York with her boyfriend of 5 years, Justin. We all had a lovely dinner our first night in Queens... These two ladies know how to pick pretty great guys was our take after dinner.... Tommy and Justin are both so authentic, sincere, and loving. What a wonderful way to start this trip! The next day, we were off to Manhattan! Eva experienced her first subway, which she instantly become a huge fan...
We spent the morning at the American Girl doll store, for Eva to spend her AG gift card and some other money she had saved. Then lunch in the city, and a Broadway show, The Lion King. As if all of this was not enough... a former grad student of Colman's mom/ Marya's is in the show and gave us a backstage tour afterwards. Bonita, has been one of the three main hyenas in this Broadway show for 10 years, and pretty amazing! She greeted us with joy and excitement afterwards, and "stayed on" the entire time she walked us around, explained the details behind the show and even had us try on props/ costumes. All while having about an hour left before going back on stage for final performance of the night!!! She was very gracious!!! We are all very appreciative for this truly once in a lifetime experience, non of us will forget. Eva has declared it her favorite part of the trip! :) well, and the AG store, of course!! She is 8 after all...
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| Eva with Nala |
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| Pumbaa's costume is pretty delicate and BIG! |
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| Justin, Sara, Cole, Eva and Me on Broadway stage |
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| Simba.... |
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| Simon and Eva! |
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| Bonita, our favorite Hyena!!! Thank you for this AMAZING experience. |
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| Bonita and various cast members encourage Eva to try on the gear! "It's heavy!!!" |
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| We love the giraffes, and all the insight Bonita shared about them! |
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| Sara and Eva stand in the set!!! Giant Husks of some sort... |
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| Scar stopped for a quick photo, on his way to eat pizza, before the next show! "Mom, Scar was nice!" |
We spent some time walking around
Manhattan as they geared up for the New Year’s
festivities, it was pretty crazy! Eva claims she and Sara saw Taylor Swift during rehearsal... no idea! There were people
rehearsing.... I am sure the story will grow by the time she tells her
classmates. She and Sara, and Becca danced it up on New Years Eva in the warmth
of Becca and Tommy's apartment, while watching Taylor Swift!
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| Where is Becca? |
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| Yeah! Sisters reunite, at last! |
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| Family dinner, Becca, Tommy, Eva, Justin and Sara... |
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| 1st of many Subway trips! Quickly becomes a novice! |
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| The Girls take in the city!!! |
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| Crazy busy place, M&M store!!! We picked up a few treats! |
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It's cold mom, hurry!!!!
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| Practicing for The Rockets! |
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| The Roaches try taking a selfie! |
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| Tommy and Justin |
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| Becca, Sara and Eva being silly... |
We had a great time with both sisters and their guys, they were all so attentive and to warm with Eva. We played countless games of Heads Up, and I am not the one you want on your team... just saying. :( Still so much fun!!
We are all back home now, colds and all... getting lots of rest and getting ready to face the work week again starting tomorrow.
Hope you all enjoyed your holidays with family and friends. Here is to a new year of endless possibilities!!!
Comments From Eva:
" Mom, how do you get cancer? I
wish they would invent something that would help people/ treat people and they
wouldn't have to loose all of their hair, especially for girls/ women. "
" Mom, I wish I still believed in Santa." :(
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